Investigation to see how the Concentration of a Sugar Solution affects Osmosis in a Potato Chip.

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Introduction

Investigation to see how the Concentration of a Sugar Solution affects Osmosis in a Potato Chip Scientific Knowledge Osmosis is a special type of diffusion. Osmosis is normally referred to the passage of water from a region of high water concentration through a semi - permeable membrane to a region of lower water concentration. Solutions are normally passed through a partially permeable membrane in order to even out solutions and the process called osmosis does this. Semi-permeable membranes are very thin layers of material, which allow some things to pass through them but prevent other things from passing through. This is said to be partially permeable. The molecules that it allows to pass is due to the molecular size of that molecule, for example sugar molecules are too large to pass through the partially permeable membrane but on the other hand molecules such as water are small enough to diffuse through it. As the semi - permeable membrane only allows certain molecules through it also makes both solutions of even concentrations. Osmosis is also interlinked with plant cells in order for the take up of water for the cells. When plant cells take up water via osmosis they start to swell, but the cell wall prevents them from bursting. Plant cells become "turgid", when they are put in dilute solutions. Turgid means swollen and hard. Turgidity is very important to plants because this is what makes the green parts of the plant "stand up" into the sunlight. However, there is a downside for plants as osmosis can also give consequences. When plant cells are placed in concentrated sugar solutions they lose water by osmosis and they become flaccid, this is the exact opposite to turgid. ...read more.

Middle

5. After thirty minutes were up I took each potato chip out of the test tubes and I placed them on paper towels. Then I blotted them so that the solution was drained out of them. 6. After I did that I re - weighed each potato chip and I recorded the results in to the table. As you can see above this is how I carried out the experiment step-by-step. Diagram Safety Below you will be able to see three safety tips that should be taken in to consideration when carrying out the experiment and using the apparatus: Make sure when using the bora to take out potato chips from the potato, that your fingers are not in the way of the borer. Make sure when you are cutting the potato chips to identical lengths, be careful to not place your fingers where the scalpel is going to cut the potato chip. Make sure that when you are pouring the solutions in to the test tubes that you do not spill any of the solution on to yourself. This is harmless but may make your skin sticky. Accuracy I used six different concentrations so that I could investigate what would happen if I changed this variable. This also showed that as increased the concentration of the solution it became apparent that the mass would decrease and if I decreased the concentration then the opposite would happen. I did three repeats of each solution because this makes the investigation more accurate and this would make me more confident so that I would not have to repeat the experiment again to make sure that osmosis actually works appropriately. ...read more.

Conclusion

Lastly, I should keep the temperature constant i.e. sugar solution has to be set at a constant temperature. If I keep the temperature constant then I can retrieve efficient and precise results. In order to make sure that osmosis works correctly I could try using different solutions in the experiment i.e. alkaline/acid solutions. If I use different solutions then this may produce different results. Also this will prove that osmosis is the diffusion of water molecules from where there is a high concentration to a lower concentration across a partially permeable membrane. When doing further test on osmosis I could change the identity of the vegetable/product. If I do this then this could make an affect to the rate of osmosis because some vegetables take longer for osmosis to occur i.e. potato chips took 30 minutes. The evidence I retrieved from the experiment I thought was sufficient and fairly correct. The results from graph showed both an increases and decrease in mass, this thoroughly supported my prediction. There were not any anomalies on the graph. There were only three results, which were slightly off the line, which means that my accuracy wasn't perfect, however I can correct this mistake by doing further tests and ensuring I do the procedures and cautions I stated above. In conclusion, I think that I had carried out the experiment successfully and I hope to improve on my areas, which are of my weakest ability. I think that from not only doing further tests but ensure that I take measurements down correctly, and may be the range of the concentration could be increased and more potato chips, then I will obtain more accurate results. In addition, I think overall fairly sufficient good quality data was obtained. Neeraj Bhardwaj - 1 - ...read more.

2M sugar and water solution * 75ml 3M sugar and water solution * Timer Step-by-Step 1. Cut the potato in half to make extracting the tubes easier using the scalpel. 2. Push the cork borer through the curved top of the potato down to and out of the flat side

If I continued the experiment with even higher concentrations of sucrose solution I would expect the expect the curve to level out as the cell can only hold so much excess liquid. With regards to the results I obtain after twenty minutes I do not believe that these will show

This could explain the inflated anomaly in 0.4m, which is 0.05g heavier than the other two repeats. I most probably blotted the first 2 repeats on both sides but the 3rd repeat on one side. If I were to carry out the experiment again, I would most definitely remember to

I had to collect the equipment cut the potato chips to 3cm I measured them with a ruler to get an accurate measurement. Then Harry placed the potato chips into the chipper so the chips are all the same size so the test would be fair.

kept as fair as possible), and I will then weigh them and record the results. These will then be put into tables and will be used in graphs. I will also measure the temperature in the room. I am going to do the experiment three times, in each solution, and

Likewise if the water concentration is low (strong solution of NaCl) in the solution, water molecules will diffuse out of the potato decreasing it in weight. However the results of my experiment all depend on the water concentration inside the potato, and because I do not know the potato's water